The Development of Visualization Skills in Engineering Students

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The purpose of this project is to conduct a faculty workshop to be held during the summer of 1995 at Michigan Technological University (MTU). The focus of these workshops is on teaching and assessment techniques for the development of 3-D spatial visualization skills in engineering students. This project builds on and disseminates the products of an NSF project in the area of Course and Curriculum Development. The products of this previous project are a textbook for the development of 3-D spatial visualization ability and an accompanying computer lab manual which utilizes I-DEAS software. The target audience for the workshops is undergraduate faculty with primary responsibility in teaching engineering design graphics. Many entering engineering students, particularly women, lack background experiences which would develop 3-D spatial visualization ability. Consequently, they are not prepared to compete on an equal basis in their graphics classes. This workshop provides engineering design graphics educators with the tools they need to bridge this gap in the backgrounds of many of their students. It is estimated that with 25 participants, approximately 2500 engineering freshman per year will benefit from the use of the developed materials and improved teaching techniques for 3-D spatial visualization. This improvement increases the likelihood that the first experience of women engineering students in their graphics curriculum is a positive experience, enhancing retention of female engineering students. Dissemination of workshop ideas is carried out by workshop participants as they implement plans for change at their home institutions in their engineering design graphics curricula. Work- shop participants are supported in their efforts by being networked together through e-mail and through contact with other participants and the project coordinators at professional meetings. An evaluation questionnaire is completed by the participants at the end of the works hop.